Even longtime fans will need to know some of the new mechanics exclusive to Fire Emblem Heroes , including how to summon heroes and using some of the key items in this game.

BASICS

After the brief movie setting up the plot of Fire Emblem Heroes and a quick battle tutorial (we’ll get to that in a bit) the main interface of the new mobile game looks as such.

The Home menu in 'Fire Emblem Heroes' Photo: Nintendo

At the top part of the screen you’ll see your name and a Stamina bar underneath it. Your Stamina determines how many maps you can go through in one playthrough. A full bar has 50 Stamina and you can refill it using Stamina bottles, which can be purchased in the SHOP or won by completing quests.

To the right of your name are the amount of Orbs you currently have. These Orbs are used to summon new heroes to join your army (again, we’ll get into summoning later). You can purchase Orbs in the SHOP or win them by completing maps and quests.

To the right of the Stamina bar are your Dueling Swords. You have three when it’s full and these are used to fight other Fire Emblem Heroes players in the Dueling Tower.

Below that you have your Hero Feather inventory. These items unlock potential in allies.

You have six options on the bottom part of your screen. HOME brings you to the screen you see above. Here, you can check messages from Nintendo about the game, receive gifts, look at the quest lists to get items and this is where you can add friends.

BATTLE is where you can go to story maps, special maps, arena duels and the training tower.

ALLIES is where you edit your team, teach them skills and level heroes up.

SUMMON is where you can summon more heroes to join your army.

SHOP is where you can use real money to perform in-game transactions for Orbs, Stamina, Dueling Swords and make upgrades to your Castle.

MISC is where you can check your overall inventory, watch cutscenes and change the game settings.

BATTLES

When you first download Fire Emblem Heroes and begin your journey you’ll go through a short tutorial.

This tutorial sets up the story of the game and, more importantly, how to move in maps and battle. Movements are accomplished simply by swiping across the board. Each character has a certain number of steps (boxes) they can move and they are indicated by blue boxes. You can swipe your character to anywhere the blue boxes allow.

To Attack opponents, all you need to do is swipe your hero to where the opponent is and a battle logo will appear.

The battle logo will appear when your hero is in range to attack. Photo: Nintendo

Fire Emblem fans will know of the Weapon Triangle that determines which weapons do better against others. This Weapon Triangle was simplified in Fire Emblem Fates to be color-coded and that has carried over to Fire Emblem Heroes.

The weapon advantage adds 20 percent to the damage dealt and disadvantages take away 20 percent.

Archers also have an advantage against flying opponents, so keep that in mind.

There’s a lot more to battling in Fire Emblem Heroes. Refer to our Battle Guide for more in-depth information on leveling up, stats and weapons.

SKILLS

Skills can be learned by heroes to strengthen how they battle. After defeating enemies and after every level up, heroes gain SP or Skill Points which is used to obtain Skills. Used after taking a certain number of actions in a fight.

These Skills can be as simple as a weapon upgrade or an active or passive skill.

Active Skills are those that require a certain number of moves to activate. Anna, for example, starts with Night Sky as her Active Skill. After a certain number of moves, this Skill will activate and will be used in her next battle.

Passive Skills are those that are always on. These are normally buffs for adjacent allies.

Allies can access more powerful skills to learn by using the Unlock Potential feature, which requires Hero Feathers.

TEAMS

In the ALLIES menu, you can go to the Teams menu to choose which heroes are in your army during battle. To add allies you only have to tap on a slot and then tap a hero.

To remove an ally from your team, just tap the ally and then tap Undo.

You can also create pre-set teams and then switch them between battles by tapping the left and right arrows. Try and get a good balance of weapons to deal with certain enemies.

SUMMON

You’ll want to summon more heroes to join your army. The color of the stone you choose from dictates which heroes will show up.

The colored stones that you can choose from are random. Five stones appear and you’ll have to choose one. There are Red, Green, Blue and Black stones that correspond to the Heroes and their weapon of choice.

The more you summon at once, the less Orbs it will take so be sure to stockpile as many Orbs as you can before summoning heroes. Try and collect 20 Orbs to maximize your summons.

Each hero that is summoned comes with a Star Level. The higher the number of stars, the better that hero is.

Be sure to keep checking back with iDigitalTimes as we go more in-depth with Fire Emblem Heroes .

And that’s the basics of Fire Emblem Heroes . Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments section below.